VSN Presents: VHLM Week 4 Power Rankings

[fromtheinside 1,290]

 

We have officially hit the halfway point of the VHLM season, and the trade deadline is quickly approaching. While things are still mostly tight in the standings, we are finally starting to see a bit of separation between teams. The Reapers and the Kings continue to wreak havoc on their respective conferences, that much seems inevitable for the foreseeable future. But after them, teams like Saskatoon and San Diego have enjoyed really solid weeks and have gotten some separation from the rest of the field. Meanwhile, there are teams like Yukon and Halifax that are kind of struggling and are falling victim to mediocrity. Without further ado, let's jump into the power rankings and break down how all the clubs stack up. 

 

Last Week: 1  |  This Week: 1  

Another week, and another solid performance by the Kings. Mexico City reclaims the top spot in the Power Rankings for a second straight week after posting a 7-2-1 record in their past 10 games. They are now 6 points ahead of Philly in the overall standings, all while playing in the tougher conference.  While the Reapers are no slouches, in my mind Mexico City is the bonafide top team in the league right now.  @kevinscixKevin Wu has been on absolute fire lately and has taken over top spot in defensemen scoring with 54 points (17G, 37A). Getting that kind of production from your blueline can be what makes an average team a great team, and Wu is doing just that. Meanwhile behind Wu, netminder @Xflexz Markus Emmerson Jr continues to build his case for the Benoit Devereux trophy for league's top goaltender.  Boasting a 31-5-4 record with a 2.31 GAA and a .910 save percentage, it will be hard to see anyone challenging Emerson for this award at this point. Definitely a nice personal achievement before ending his minor league career and going up to Vancouver next season, but I am sure he is more focused on capturing Mexico the Founder's Cup. And at the rate he and his teammates are going, it looks like a  real possibility.

 

Last Week: 2  |  This Week: 2  

Back for a second straight week at number 2, we have none other than the Philadelphia Reapers. Though they seem to be stuck in the 2 slot for the time being, don't be deceived.... Philadelphia is an absolute juggernaut, and unquestionably the kings of the Eastern Conference. Top to bottom the Reapers are a rock solid team, and despite that they still managed to get even better this past week. Earlier in the week, Philly sent a 1st and a 4th to Mississauga for near max-capped defensemen @McLovin Gustav Hjalmarsson.  The young Swede has exploded onto the scene for the Reapers, posting 11 points (4G, 11A) in only 6 games! Already having solid shutdown defensemen like @DoktorFunk Jolly Green Giant and @N0HBDY Bob Tristian, it made total sense for Philly management to go and find themselves a high scoring blueliner ahead of the trade deadline. Speaking of Philly management, it's also worth noting that the team made top line winger @dariusmarimotoman Darius Marimoto their Assistant General Manager! While his player will be off to Chicago next season, he will still be here overseeing his team. Congrats Bobo!

 

Last Week: 4  |  This Week: 3 

For the third straight week we have the Sasky Bois moving up in the Power Rankings. Largely thanks to a 9 game win streak this past week, the Wild have really put themselves into the upper echelon of the league. Now sporting a 29-11-4 record, they are in sole position of 3rd place overall in the league by a 6 point margin. The team continues to be led by third year elite goal scorer @dart Florent Vericel. Vericel has already broken the 70-point plateau this season with 74 points (30 G, 44A) which is good for second in the league. Also, with his herculean efforts his week, Vericel cemented his legacy in Saskatoon, becoming the all time leading goal scorer in franchise history. At his current pace, it's just a matter of time before he also takes the record for most points as well. Meanwhile on D, @Acydburn  has emerged as the clubs top blueliner bot in terms of points and TPE. Close behind him is teammate @yevty Silas McFriend who shockingly hasn't even come close to capping out his player this season. Once thought of as a first round draft hopeful, McFriend's welfare claiming has really stunted his player development. Maybe he should worry about himself burning out rather than the people who can constantly produce league content.   Overall, the Wild are really clicking on all cylinders and do seem to be a dangerous team with large playoff aspirations. Hopefully they can keep this momentum going all the way into the playoffs. 

 

Last Week: 3  |  This Week: 4 

After swapping spots this week with Saskatoon, the Marlins find themselves down a spot at 4. This should be attributed more so to the Wild's hot streak rather than San Diego playing poorly. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Over the past 10 game span, the Marlins posted a very tidy 6-3-1 record, taking 13 of a possible 20 points. While its been alot of "Core 4" (Endrizzi, Red Lite, Kaberle, Prout) showing up on the scoresheet, this week saw nice contributions from other places as well. Recently acquired winger @Nepto Maksim Yakolevsky has found some good chemistry with 2nd line center @Nikdandrea34 Nikolas D'Andrea and it has really shown over the past week. The Marlins have been averaging about 4 goals a game in their past 10 so  it's nice to them getting solid offense night in and night out to accompany their great team defense. The team is full of players who have developed a ton already this season, and the Marlins are looking poised to contend come postseason time in a few weeks.

 

Last Week: 5  |  This Week: 5  

For the second consecutive week the Las Vegas Aces are locked into the 5 spot which is somewhat fitting as they went 5-5 in their past 10 games. Pocket 5's isn't the best, but it's a respectable record for Vegas who is in the uber-competitive Western Conference. That fact compared with the fact that they took a game off the Marauders is what gave them the edge this week over Miami. I feel like this probably could be where Las Vegas ends up for most of the remainder of Season 75. While the Aces don't smack you in the face with any overwhelming offensive power, they are just a very sound hockey club that should always be competitive. They are defensively competent and are a very well managed team. It's hard to say whether @JigglyGumballs AGM Jiggs and @Spartan GM Spartan will stay the course and roll the dice with their current players, or if they decide push all their chips into the center of the table and go all-in and acquire some help offensively to put themselves over the top. Does Spartan want to take the VHLM throne this season or will there be teardrops falling from his face after disappointing run in the playoffs. Time will tell.

 

Last Week: 6   |  This Week: 6  

Just like the Aces, Miami slots back into the same place they were last week, coming in at 6 for the second straight week. And although they didn't move up in the Power Rankings there is a ton of positives to take away here for Miami. First off, they went 7-1-2 in their last 10 games which is incredible in it's own right, but even more so when you point out that they took games off BOTH the Mexico City Kings AND the Philadelphia Reapers. The only thing that kept them at 6 was the fact that they finished up their week with a loss to the Aces. Though the Marauders stumbled for a week or so, it seems they have snapped their funk and are back to their winning ways. I think it's a safe bet to lock them into second place in the East for the end of the season. Come playoff time, should they match up - the Marauders could give the Reapers a run for their money, having beat them on multiple occasions now this season. It would sure be fun to watch @RedSus Cabe McJake go head to head with former teammate and linemate (and FUTURE TEAMMATE in Riga!!) @tcookie25 Addison McLaren. It would be a marquee matchup to be sure if it ever happened. Speaking of Mr McJake, the Irish phenom seems to have regained his scoring touch. Leading the team offensively over the past week, McJake has reclaimed a spot in the top 5 for league scoring with 62 points (34G-28A). Not far behind him is teammate @CosmicStorm Peter Louis II who is sitting two back of McJake at 60 (27G, 33A). Louis III, defensemen @chikn Chicken Wing and goaltender @thadthrasher Thadius Sales will all be looking to get their second consecutive Founder's Cup before the trio all graduate to the Big Apple next season with the New York Americans.

 

Last Week: 7  |  This Week: 7 

Coming in at 7, we have the Halifax 21st who call this spot home for the second week in a row. This is another case where I don't see alot of movement one way or the other for Halifax. I think they are clearly better than the bottom of the pack, and even Yukon at this point. But while that's great, I still don't consider them to be on the same level as a Las Vegas or Miami. All things considered, the 21st's season really depends on two things. One is if management decides they think they can make run, in which case they would need to add a couple pieces this week before the trade deadline. But more importantly, I think that Halifax only gets as fast as @Dolant Dolant Fertitta takes them. It sounds a little short-sided but all things considered, Fertitta is carrying that team super hard right now. He leads the league in points with 77 (40G, 33A). He is the first player to break the 40 goal plateau this season and is 6 ahead of the next closest scorer (McJake). It really depends on how Halifax management wants to play things. They could sell Fertitta as a rental and fetch a high price, or they can roll the dice and make some moves to see if they contend.  It'll be interesting as Halifax does have a few really great players, but in my personal opinion they are still a few players short to truly contend with the big hitters in the M this season. I will say that I'm surprised at how competitive Halifax has been this season. It's been a very nice bounce-back season for them this year.

 

Last Week: 8  |  This Week: 8 

It's been another week of mediocre results for the Rush. Coming in 8 again this week, mediocrity has kind have been the theme for Yukon this season. It seems like the club is constantly taking one step forward and then two steps back this season. While beating teams like Miami and Las Vegas were positive, they also dropped contests to Houston and even Minnesota. The club took a really big hit to their hopes of contending this week when top pair defenseman @greywolf139 Derek Redmarsh decided to up and retire his player mid-season,  leaving the Rush high and dry on an already thin blueline. Rush management were obviously disappointed with this news, as they just felt they were shoring up their defensive deficiencies with the waiver pickups they've made over the past few weeks, But with disappointment comes opportunity as  top VHLM @Juice Kristof Welch will get top pair minutes on defense for the remainder of the season with wily veteran @GoliathusTee Pee E II. Under E's tutelage, Welch is going to get a real opportunity to show what he is capable of to all the VHLM scouts who are licking their chops at the thoughts of potentially scooping him up in the S76 VHLM Dispersal Draft. With the trade deadline looming, it seems as though Yukon will be sellers. Perhaps teams missing a piece of two could come knocking and a deal could be made?

 

Last Week: 9  |  This Week: 9 

Well the while table has officially been thrown in Houston, and it's a shame because they had a young hungry team that was chalk full of potential. Unfortunately, like the Rush, Houston also had an abrupt retirement happen to them this week when their top line center @Retuperkele Luukas Lilja decided to call it quits. This one really came out of left field as Lilja was actually a pretty solid TPE earner and was reportedly fairly active in the Bulls locker room. This really dampened any chance the Bulls had at sneaking into a playoff spot this season and contending. With exception of @domg5 Dominic Gobeil who will be graduating to the VHL next season, most of the club will be back next season and I predict the Bulls to do some serious damage come puck drop next year.

 

Last Week: 10  |  This Week: 10 

Now we are moving into the teams that are in full rebuild mode and for the most part their rankings can be interchangeable.  The Hounds have confirmed as much after a pair of trades this season saw them net 3 picks for the S76 draft and 1 for the S77 draft.  The prospect watch continues though as @Sljppers Erin Esurance and @Jolline Eeli Rantanen continue to put up huge rookie numbers with 47 and 45 points respectively. It's great to see these young players seizing their opportunities and really putting themselves on display for the whole league to see. I can't wait to see where they end up next season! Who knows, with the way Mississauga is accruing draft picks, one or both could end up back with the Hounds for their sophomore stint. 

 

Last Week: 11  |  This Week: 11 

More of the same this week for the Storm. But I can't say much as they somehow managed to salvage a win against my Yukon Rush squad. After looking through their team's roster activity there still isn't alot to get excited about but there are at least a couple bright spots. @Max12 Maksym Jankowski has been developing nicely and should prove to be  a useful player next season for the Storm. Also in net, @Hello Hi Hello continues to earn at a steady pace. Look for him to be Minnesota's keeper again next season.

 

 

Last Week: 12  |  This Week: 12 

Ladies and gentlemen, another week in the books, and one more win for the Ottawa Lynx! This one came versus their basement dwelling rivals, the Minnesota Storm, in a convincing 7-2 THRASHING!  In that fantastic win, Lynx star prospect @IHateBobNutting Phillip Stein erupted for a 2 goal, 2 assist performance. Games like this are going to do a ton for Stein's drafts stock in the VHLM Disperal Draft. If him and his fellow rookie teammates keep grinding and getting better, the sky will be the limit. Like the dynamic rookie duo in Mississauga, these players in Ottawa have a golden opportunity to get top tier ice time and show people what they can do this season. 

 

Well that concludes Week 4 of the VHLM Power Rankings. We are just under a week away from the trade deadline and it really should be interesting to see if any teams try to make a splash. Philadelphia beat other teams to the market by making an early splash and getting themselves a max TPE defenseman. Will other teams follow suit to keep up or will they trust in the players they have and stay the course without giving up any additional assets? Are teams like Miami or Saskatoon going to stay hot and dethrone their respective conference leaders? We will have to see, it'll take quite a bit of doing, but it isn't impossible! Until next week, thanks for reading! 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by fromtheinside

[Dom 1,445]

Really nice ranking again this week and I really like how you use it every weeks in your podcasts to get the point of view from Spartan, Mexican Cow and Zetterberg. It really complete your power ranking and I already look forward for that podcast if you plan an other one this week. Continue like that, you are gonna be a superstar in a few seasons And yeah sudden retirements can really hurt a team badly but I can assure you that Houston's locker room is even more active than it was before with our new waiver claims! 10/10

[fromtheinside 1,290]

38 minutes ago, domg5 said:

Really nice ranking again this week and I really like how you use it every weeks in your podcasts to get the point of view from Spartan, Mexican Cow and Zetterberg. It really complete your power ranking and I already look forward for that podcast if you plan an other one this week. Continue like that, you are gonna be a superstar in a few seasons And yeah sudden retirements can really hurt a team badly but I can assure you that Houston's locker room is even more active than it was before with our new waiver claims! 10/10

i think you mean Moose and not Spartan, but yeah we are setting up to do another podcast tonight lol. After its edited, it should be up by tomorrow night hopefully!

[Dom 1,445]

Just now, fromtheinside said:

i think you mean Moose and not Spartan, but yeah we are setting up to do another podcast tonight lol. After its edited, it should be up by tomorrow night hopefully!

yes my bad, I think I got confused because Spartan does a podcast too, sorry.

[Juice 641]

I always love your power rankings for VHLM

Here's to hoping the Rush picks up the pace and goes from middle of the pack to a contender, I'll do my best on the blueline to assist